Here Comes the Bride!

My bestie and her now hubby got married last night.

(First dance)

It was a beautiful night and I feel so blessed to have been a part of it.

(Our friends from Colorado came out for the wedding as a surprise to the bride. The groom had it all set up. We picked them up from the airport on Tuesday. The look on Meghan's face when she saw John was priceless. It was such a wonderful gift for her. Oh, and that's John singing in the background of their first dance pic)

(My hot hubby was also in the wedding. We got to walk together. It was quite fun)

It's amazing to see the way that God brings two people together.

(My glowing, beautiful bestie!)

(Me and the MOH!)

We also went dancing for her bachelorette party last weekend. Here are a few pics from that:

(photo taken by one of the other bridesmaids)

This wedding had me in happy tears for so many different reasons. To see their love for God, for each other, and the love that Jeremiah has for Meghan's kids...it was so beautiful. I was giddy all week waiting to see this day take place...and it was all I hoped it would be and more.

Jesus is truly amazing.

Secret Sister Blog Party Link Up!

Some of you may know that I hosted a little blog party last year called the Secret Sister Blog Party (to read more about it, click here).

There were a few ladies that decided to take part in the party.

If you were one of those ladies, I'd love for you to link up your post of your experience with the party, as well as what you received from your sister, and how she revealed herself to you!

What Really Matters

Family

Beautiful friendships (with people that are like your family in so many ways)

Sharing about Christ

Living life the way God calls us to

Being available for others

Caring for those in need

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NIV)

Let's show our love this week.

Recap

I am still having a hard time believing that Christmas is over and tomorrow is the last day of 2011.

I've had a very up and down week.

Not just because we are approaching a new year, but because there are some things going on around me right now that have me feeling a bit emotional. It's hard to know how much one should really share on a public blog, but I know that many of these things are too much of my life to be put out into cyber space.

I'm one of those people that tends to hold things in and push them to the back of my mind when I am busy and have other things to focus. It's definitely a blessing and a curse. And this busy holiday season, as enjoyable as it has been, has also been a nice distraction from the things threatening to spill out.

In many ways, I am sad to see 2011 go. A lot of wonderful things happened this year.

We took our second trip to CO to see our dear friends.
We took a trip to Disneyland to celebrate our wedding anniversary.
We welcomed two beautiful nieces into our family.

(Top left: CO, Top right: Women of Faith conference, Bottom left: Disneyland, Bottom right: Josh's ugly Christmas sweater party)

We went to a few weddings, wedding showers, and baby showers... just a few.
We went to our first ever murder mystery dinner party...and it was a blast.
I started working again at a job that I love and am so very thankful for.
We went whale watching for the first time.

(Top left: a friend's wedding, Top right: a friend's baby shower, Bottom left: murder mystery party, Bottom right: my sister's birthday party)

We went to a couple of baseball games.
We celebrated many amazing people's birthdays.
We had a few friends get engaged.

(Top left: Disneyland, Top right: my birthday dinner, Bottom left: a friend's baby shower, Bottom right: Christmas with my hubby's family)

In other ways, I am so ready to welcome 2012. I know that in spite of everything around me, God still has a plan, and I know His plans are going to be great for 2012.

(Top left: Christmas, Top right: Niece #1, Bottom left: Niece #2, Bottom right: White elephant Christmas party)

Yet one thing I truly love about looking back on a year is that, no matter how hard it was, the good always seems to outweigh the bad. And that, my friends, is a wonderful blessing.

Be safe and enjoy celebrating 2012!



(Since GFC is disappearing in March for all non-Google users, you can either follow me through bloglovin' or fan me on Facebook to keep up to date with my posts)

Blessings

We had a very busy Christmas weekend.

We had a few different celebrations over two days. It was quite the adventure.

We stopped by my grandparents's house on Christmas Eve...

A Christmas Eve service at a different church (ours did not have one this year)...

Christmas Eve dinner with the hubby's family...


Christmas morning opening presents with the hubby's family...

(My sisters-in-law and my nieces)

Christmas brunch and dinner with my family...

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol with our friends, followed by trying out our new Kinect...

(Two of the hubby's childhood best friends and their wives)

I spent most of this weekend thinking about how blessed I really am.

I hope you were able to do the same.

(Since GFC is disappearing in March for all non-Google users, you can either follow me through bloglovin' or fan me on Facebook to keep up to date with my posts)